Komali (Plane)
Komali, also known as the realm The Realm, is the given name of the prime material plane. It is made of of two primary landmasses, named Komali and Adorea, as well as several small islands and archipelagos. History The genesis behind the creation of Komali is generally contested amongst its inhabitants. Most records and religions indicate in some way that the gods created Komali along with its first life-forms, but later turned their backs on the plane for unknown reasons. Many High Elves argue that theirs were the first people to walk the plane, and all other races followed in time. The First Empire The first known centralized kingdom that rose to power in Komali was Arcanus, a human empire whose hierarchy was based on magical ability. The Arcanians were a scholarly people, and made a point to study and understand the world around them. Despite its noble origins, the Arcanian empire soon fell to its own corruption. The Arcanians began to desire more, and used their power to annex their fledgeling neighboring civilizations. The Arcanians spread the borders of their empire across the whole of the continent and enslaved any who did not submit, as well as those simply seen as inferior. At some point during their reign, a group of people emerged from the uncharted mountains to the south of Komali, claiming to hail from a city named Iridia. They appear to have known little of the world around them but made an effort to seek peaceful relations with their surrounding neighbors. Refugees of various races fled the Arcanian empire in search of uncharted land, and sail to a continent previously uncolonized by humans, called Adorea by its natives. Upon meeting with the native Gray Elves of Amaan'lu, the refugees agreed to a peaceful agreement and settled the nation of Anvalia on Mistlock Isle. Rise of Nations Several hundred years later, the Dominion was founded by like-minded Adoreans who sought to bring order to the world. As the Dominion grew, it slowly became the dominant power of the continent, and began to extend its rule towards its neighbors. Their increasingly extreme policies eventually led to the event known as the Gray Elf Slave Trade between the Dominion and Arcanus, leading to several hundred years of oppression of the Gray Elven people. The slave trade persisted for several centuries, strengthening both nations until a slave uprising led to the collapse and deposition of the Arcanian Empire. The Magocracy of Arcanas was routed from the lands of Komali and driven back to their original seat of power in the Arcanian Oasis. The removal of the majority of the Arcanian Empire allowed for the creation of new free nations, most notably of which being the empire of Veneril. The city of Cliffport was established on the north-eastern coast of the Ikravan Desert, and the city of Rin was established to the far north in the crystal sound. As the Dominion grew in power, it began to adopt extreme policies restricting and regulating the use of magic within their empire, eventually leading to a empire-wide ban on all magic usage. A group of revolutionaries, led by the barbarian Fritz Oathkeeper, established Shadowfell Keep as a bastion against the Dominion. At Shadowfell, races of all kinds could live free from oppression, and magic users could practice their craft openly without fear of regulation. Shadowfell Keep quickly gained the support of the public eye, and it was not long before the Dominion had little choice but to recognize it as an independent city-state. The Keep and the lands surrounding that pledged themselves to the revolutionaries' cause was renamed Fellhaven. The Dark Wars A band of adventurers uncovered a plot in Fellhaven in which a member of the Council, Tenser Curse, was attempting to summon what he believed to be a demon. Curse corrupted a vast region of Adorea's Northlands around his personal keep (henceforth called the Brand) in an attempt to raise the demon before being defeated by Fellhaven forces, led by Zorruvius Vitalis and Michi Moh. Several years later, a gray elf adventurer named K'thormir would discover the keep and become corrupted by the residual magic, devoting himself to completing Curse's work. K'thormir's partner saw the corruption begin to form inside of him and locked his soul away inside of a dwarven puzzle cube. Several years later, a fledgeling group of adventurers chanced upon the very same puzzle cube and unknowingly released K'thormir back into the world. The adventurers, who would eventually be named the Sons of Shadowfell, worked with Fellhaven forces to hunt down and stop K'thormir, but not before he was able to complete his goal, resurrecting and releasing a primordial evil called the Darkness into Komali. The Darkness wasted little time in declaring war on the entirety of the mortal plane. The nations of the world fought back for several years, but it became quickly apparent that the seemingly unlimited forces of the Darkness would soon overwhelm the armies of Komali. The Sons of Shadowfell were eventually guided by the gods to a number of divine artifacts tied to the original defeat of the Darkness, and spent the next year locating and purifying them in order to weaken the Darkness. After each artifact was sanctified, the heroes, rumored to be in the company of the goddess Xeria, rooted out the Darkness at its source and destroyed it, banishing it from the plane once more. Aftermath Despite the eventual defeat of the Darkness, the multiple years that it was allowed to walk and corrupt the material plane took a heavy toll on its integrity. The land of Komali, and Adorea in particular, was embedded with a permanent and otherworldly corruption that no amount of magic could heal. Peace talks between the Dominion and Fellhaven took place to govern how best to rebuild after the wars, but tensions formed immediately as the two nation's differences began to take precedent. The talks persisted for several years, but inevitably broke down, giving way to a cold war that would last centuries. To avoid all out-war, Fellhaven begrudgingly acknowledged that the use of Elder Magic may lead to further corruption of the material plane, and regulated it accordingly. Tensions between the two nations eventually led to a military coup of Fellhaven's leadership. The Republic of Fellhaven was then replaced by an Empire, immediately deregulating the use of all forms of dark magic. The now widespread use of such magics was enough to elevate the cold war into a proper one between the Dominion and Fellhaven, which raged for centuries. In an attempt to cut off the Dominion's supply lines, a magical fog was conjured overnight by Fellhaven sorcerers, effectively cutting off the entirety of Adorea from the rest of Komali. Communications from within the empire ceased, and nobody is known to have traveled there since. The Warlord's Invasion Centuries later, a number of Arcanian prisoners inadvertently activated a divine relic while staging an escape attempt from Omu. Unbeknownst to them, this attracted the attention of an otherworldy demon warlord known as Thane to the plane of Komali. Without the people of Adorea's aid, the continent of Komali quickly fell to the might of the warlord, submitting to his rule - save one. Iridia, on the brink of destruction, enacted a fail-safe attempt to save their kingdom, erecting an enormous barrier around the entirety of the city. Thane ruled over Komali for one hundred years, but was never able to break through the barrier. For unknown reasons, the barrier was deactivated after about a century, but the city behind it had vanished completely. The disappearance of Iridia has long been a source of confusion for historians and archeologists. After some time, the Warlord was routed and defeated by a unified Komali. The details of this conflict are largely unknown. Brave New World Centuries after the defeat of the Warlord, new nations began to form from the ashes of old. An overwhelming majority of the former gray elf slaves of Arcanus, now completely free from the clutches of the empire, left Arcanas for good and built their own city-state in the remnants of old Iridia, taking the name of Ebonsong Citadel. The city of Tabletop was also founded very recently in the canyons of the Ikravan Desert, welcoming all with an eye for coin and a thirst for adventure. Geography Komali is home to a wide variety of climates and biomes. The central continent of Komali is divided into five regions; The Crystal Sound, The Great Expanse, The Western Wilds, The Eastern Shelf, and the Desolation. Adorea is divided into four regions; The Exalted Fields, The Northlands, The Cradle of Mist, and Lychcroft. Territories and Regions Komali contains several independant nations and factions. It is possible that there are additional nations yet to be discovered. Adorea * Amaan'lu * Anvalia * The Dominion * Fellhaven * Hoelbrak Komali * Arcanus * Cliffport * Ebonsong Citadel * Iridia * Rin * Tabletop * Veneril